New Athlete Leadership University Curriculum Announced

In 2021, Special Olympics International created a new Athlete Representative and Global Messenger curriculum. This new curriculum not only creates a better learning experience (both virtually and in person), but also will better allow all Athlete Leaders to feel more confident in being able to do more things locally and regionally shortly after course completion.

As a result, SOPA has decided that starting in 2022, Athlete Representatives and Global Messengers will only need to complete one course. Following course completion, they will then be asked to complete at least six practicums before being eligible to graduate.

Additionally, in an effort to ensure more athletes are given Athlete Leadership opportunities throughout the state, any Athlete Leader trained starting in 2022 must complete their practicum before being trained in any additional Athlete Leadership roles. To submit a practicum, an Athlete Leader must:

• Log into THEIR individual (not their mentor’s) profile in the Special Olympics Pennsylvania Online Portal.
  • If the Athlete Leader is having difficulties logging in, they may select “Trouble Logging In” to retrieve User ID or “Forgot Password” to automatically have new password sent to their e-mail.
  • Once logged in, Athlete Leaders must then go to the “Athlete Leadership Opportunities” tab and select the course(s) they wish to submit a practicum for.

As soon as the required practicum has been completed for a course, an Athlete Leader is then eligible to graduate from Athlete Leadership University!

Please also check out the Athlete Leadership tab on the SOPA website for the most up to date information on Athlete Leadership University and all other things related to Athlete Leadership!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me at if you have any questions.

News from the Field Department - June 2022

Happy almost month of July to everyone. In July, we celebrate the birthday of our nation and how blessed we are to live in a country that tries to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusiveness.  As the Special Olympics Pennsylvania, we should always be mindful that one of our core beliefs is inclusiveness.  We have room for all and we want everyone to join us in celebration of our abilities and differences.

In honor of our liberty, let’s take a moment to look at our volunteers in each region and program and think about how diverse they are.  Some are excellent coaches who prepare and fret over every practice.  Some are coaches who are talented at teaching skills and preparing athletes for competition.  Some are learning new things every day.  We have Managers who inspire and motivate teams to do well in every aspect of our organization. We have Volunteer Coordinators, Outreach Coordinators, PR Coordinators and Fund Raisers who are constantly looking for new ways to accomplish their mission.  Our volunteers come from all walks of life – some are family members by birth, some are family members by choice.  We have laborers, salesmen, teachers, CEOs and more.

So, as you celebrate July 4th this year – take a few minutes to be thankful for the blessing that diversity and inclusion are to our country and our organization.

As always, never hesitate to reach out to your Field Director or Regional Exec with questions, concerns or ideas.  We love hearing from each of you!

Your Field Team

Staff Changes – March 2022

FOND FAREWELL 

• Nicole Jones, VP of Marketing & Communications

Nicole Jones, VP of Marketing and Communications, has announced her departure from SOPA. Her last day will be Friday, March 25, 2022.

To say that Nicole is leaving “big shoes to fill” is a complete understatement. There have been very few projects or initiatives that SOPA has launched over the past decade that Nicole hasn’t had a key role in. She has provided exceptional leadership to our marketing and communications efforts and organization for 13 years - leveraging our strong brand and positioning our organization for success across multiple fronts.

Nicole has built an exceptionally strong team (our Marketing Marvels) who consistently deliver quality “products and services” to ensure that we are well-represented in the marketplace, across all relevant channels. SOPA’s clean, user-friendly website and dynamic social media channels have seen significant growth in both traffic and engagement over the past several years. And our marketing and communications team rose to the challenges of COVID, finding themselves at the very center of our organization’s ability to deliver on mission, transitioning every possible experience over to a virtual platform with flying colors!

We are extremely proud of the work of our team under Nicole’s leadership.

Nicole will be leaving SOPA to take on the position as Executive Director for a non-profit based in Norristown, PA. She has graciously offered to remain accessible after that date to ensure a smooth transition.

Please join us in saying THANK YOU and BEST OF LUCK to Nicole as she starts this new adventure.

OPEN POSITIONS

If you or someone you know is interested in joining the SOPA team, please pass the word along about our open positions under employment opportunities.

SOPA Tonight! March 24th

Join us on March 24 at 7:30 p.m. as Season 2 of SOPA Tonight! continues with a jam-packed episode! Host Tarre Apreala, an athlete from Team Lehigh, will take us on a journey through Polar Plunge season as well as highlight our 2022 Indoor Winter Games, check in with a special guest for a USA Games update and so much more. Tune in via YouTube or Facebook. And if you missed any previous episodes, you can view them all here!